“The breadth of services we offer under one roof is a major strength for us,” notes Jon Tardiff, JSM vice president and Rick’s son. “There’s not much work that we farm out.”

The pride of Augusta, ME, JSM took on its current form at the beginning of the millennium. Letter Systems–fresh off its acquisition of Knowlton & McLeary–bought JSM, which had merged with Gannet Graphics previously. Prepress house Graphic Color joined the fold shortly after. JSM’s name was kept since it boasted the strongest brand identity.

JSM, which posted $22 million in sales for the latest fiscal year, has enjoyed a carnival-like atmosphere of activity since the series of mergers and acquisitions. In the past few years alone, the company has installed two eight-color, 40? Komori Lithrone S40 sheetfed presses, including one with perfecting capabilities. Rick Tardiff auditioned all of the usual suspects in the 40? press market, and opted for Komori because of its high automation.

“In doing our analysis, we determined that half of our day consisted of makereadies, the other half production,” Rick Tardiff notes. “With the Komori, we’ve actually reduced our makeready time by 50 percent, and the amount of paper we use for a makeready by 50 percent, as well. That equates to 750,000 sheets of paper a year on one press that is running virtually 24/7.

Doing More with Less

“We were able to replace six presses with three newer models. A majority of work we have now is being cranked out by the two new Komori presses, with the third one pitching in as needed,” he continues. “So, we’ve basically cut our pressroom in half. And we’re outperforming what we had when running six presses.”

I have worked for several employers during my 25 plus years in the printing industry. Everyday I enjoy seeing and being apart of progress. The forward advancement of efficient machines and procedures will allow myself and everyone else to excel in this company. Congrats in being featured in Printing Impressions. The article was well written and I must say the picture of me on the MBO Navigator came out well!<br />